New Forum Member

[Sunnyjim]

Hi Sunnyjim here
Just joined the forum, looks like you have many helpful members
who share and contribute information (unlike other forums I have tried )
My family and I are visiting Orlando in Oct for a vacation in a villa with the intention of learning the ins and outs of buying.
I would be grateful for any tips or advice.
Regards

Sunnyjim

[fiona]

Welcome to the forum SunnyJim.

Can I suggest you have a good look under search and then ask away once you've done some reading.

Many people ask the same questions and you will find lots of different but informative answers.

All I would say briefly is buy what you want, consider re-sale as well as brand new, and be prepared to commit yourself to several hours of work a day to run your business!

[Sunnyjim]

Hi Sunnyjim here
Fiona thanks for the advice, having done some research already it does appear that buying and letting is not easy,
Our objectives are to buy as an investment! all be it long term
We would hope that we could cover our running costs by letting
I hear different amounts of weeks let to achieve this
any advice

Sunnyjim

[blott]

Hi Sunnyjim

Well, it depends on your expenses of course! I've not managed to meet anyone who has the same costs as our home and I suspect most homes are the same - it all depends on what size home, how many people are staying, what time of year, whether it's a new or resale home, etc as these all make a difference to your bills.

What size home are you thinking of buying? We can probably give you a 'guesstimate' based on that for a start.

[fiona]

As Blottie says if we know what size villa you are thinking of we can give some guidelines depending on what we have!!

[Sunnyjim]

Hi Sunnyjim here
Thanks Fiona and Blot
We are considering a 4 bedroom 3 bathroom 2 level home,
big pool and spa,

regards

Sunnyjim

[Kissyme]

Hi Sunnyjim we also will be in Orlando for October but not to buy (unfortunatly) I ha e enjoyed many hours on this forum and learnt many thing all of which have been very helpful I1m sure you will have all your questions answered

[fiona]

There is a glut of 4 beds on the market, but you can rent down and get 3 bed rentals - at a reduced rate of course.

My feeling is as the prices of new villas appear to be increasing weekly - or certainly monthly due to the current demand from Brits, you would be wise to consider a re-sale. There are plenty of villas for sale that are only a couple of years old where people bought and have had their fingers burnt.

I would make your villa distinctive to give yourself a marketing edge - perhaps theme it, this can be done reasonably inexpensively.

King size beds are a must for the American market, they do like a spa as well, south or south-west facing pool are things I would look for.

Decide if you want to be very near Disney (and pay accordingly) or further out where you often get more land and bigger villas. Then look at specific communities.

Give yourself a budget and stick to it. Don't be talked up by the realtor (guess who was!!).

You will have no trouble renting out Easter, Christmas and parts of the summer. It would be wise to base your costs on renting for 6 months of the year and anything else you achieve would be a bonus.

And finally, don't believe a word of guaranteed rentals, we had one for 40 weeks a year. They got us 12. Take control yourself from the beginning, pay your own bills and control the booking calendar.

[blott]

There's a useful thread which might be of some help to you at http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums...34&whichpage=1

This has info about running costs and rental weeks.

[Sunnyjim]

Hi SunnyJim here
Thanks for the advice this is an excellent forum,
I have already started using the search and it looks like the anwsers to lot
of my questions are there.
Thanks to Blott and Fiona for your sound advice.

Regards

Sunnyjim